Those great garters

By | January 20th, 2024|Categories: Regency Era, Underpinnings, Victorian Era|

Have you ever wondered how Victorian women (and those before them) kept their pre-elastic stockings up? Let’s talk about the history of garters!  Do you love fashion from the past? Sign up for our newsletter so you get first access to all of our style guides.  The history of garters The timeless need to keep [...]

Ribbon corsets

By | August 10th, 2023|Categories: Edwardian Era, Fashion history, Underpinnings|Tags: , |

In my recent post about Victorian summer dresses, I came across photos of ventilated corsets; corsets made of ribbon or strips of fabric connecting the boning and ties. At first, I thought that they may have been a new summer-friendly invention of the late Victorian era but I came to learn that ribbon corsets were [...]

Private purses: women's tie-on pockets

By | August 27th, 2022|Categories: Accessories, Fashion, Regency Era, Underpinnings, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions, Women's History|

One thing I love about my Recollections dresses is the deep pockets hidden in the pleats and folds. They are absolutely perfect for carrying my iPhone and lipstick. The pockets are one of the subtle modern conveniences that make Recollections so great. While they are great examples of 19th-century clothing, in truth, dresses from that [...]

Victorian and Edwardian combination garments

By | May 22nd, 2022|Categories: Edwardian Era, Fashion, Underpinnings, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions|

I love wearing petticoats! Recently I wrote a post about the history of petticoats and discovered that our readers love them as well. I am also a big fan of the history of the corset and its variations over time. It is therefore surprising that I have never done much digging into the history or [...]

All about petticoats

By | March 27th, 2022|Categories: Fashion, Underpinnings, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions|Tags: , , |

Some people like to dress up, and some people don’t. Personally, nothing makes me feel more regal and confident than a full skirt with a petticoat underneath. Besides this, most of the fashion trends that I have studied involve women’s clothing that required a petticoat to wear properly, yet I have never done much reading [...]

Stomachers: 18th century status symbols

By | January 29th, 2022|Categories: Accessories, Fashion, Revolutionary War era, Underpinnings|Tags: , |

What if you could have all of the best aspects of your favorite outfit but look like you were wearing something new to every party? This is exactly what stomachers did for the elite back in the 16th through 18th centuries. The surviving examples are beautiful insights into both the artistry of the time and [...]

Pannier, robe à la française, and robe à la anglais: what's what

By | January 18th, 2022|Categories: Fashion, Underpinnings, Women's History|

The classic French pannier dresses of the 18th century have been a long-time interest of mine but something that I have never delved into studying. Recently I purchased a set of antique brass bells online and when they arrived I was pleased that one of the bells is shaped like a woman wearing what I [...]

Bloomers: the national controversy of the 1890s

By | January 13th, 2022|Categories: Fashion, Underpinnings, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions, Women's History|Tags: , , , |

This weekend I have been hard at work preparing a presentation for Historic New England titled: The Dress Reform Movement: Who, What, When, Where, and HOW. One of the points I love making in my presentations is that the radical nature of the bloomers and the public outcry that they caused when they momentarily returned to [...]

Elegance at home: Victorian wrappers

By | November 21st, 2021|Categories: Fashion, Underpinnings, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions, Women's History|Tags: , |

I have had a lot of fun exploring nightclothes from the past for the blog this year. And as always, I am a true lover of all things Victorian. As such, the topic of Victorian wrappers has been on my mind for some time.  I love that they mimic the shape of the popular dress [...]